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Mansfield to celebrate ‘Shawshank’ anniversary

Steve Stephens

IF YOU GO

SHAWSHANK REUNION

A celebration marking the 20-year anniversary of the Shawshank Redemption will be held Aug. 30
through Sept.1 in Mansfield, Ashland and Upper Sandusky.

Tours will be offered of sites from the movie including the Ohio State Reformatory (Shawshank
State Prison), Bissman Building (Brewer Hotel/Portland Daily Bugle), and the Wyandot County
Courthouse (where Tim Robbins’ character was convicted).

For information about the Shawshank reunion events and the Shawshank Trail, visit
www.shawshanktrail.com or call the
Mansfield tourism bureau at 1-800-642-8282.

Though not especially acclaimed upon its release in October 1994,
The Shawshank Redemption has become one of the most beloved films of our time.

Regular users of the entertainment website IMDb rank it as the best movie of all time, nosing
The Godfatherout of the top spot.

It’s no wonder that Mansfield — the site of the old Ohio State Reformatory, which stands in for
the fictional Shawshank Prison in the movie — is planning a big celebration for the 20th
anniversary of the filming.The festivities — special events and tours, receptions and a special
screening of the movie — will take place during Labor Day weekend
.

Other sites in Mansfield and nearby communities that appeared in the film (starring Morgan
Freeman and Tim Robbins) will also get into the act.

Organizers expect several members of the film cast and crew to attend.Actor Bob Gunton, who
played the despicable Warden Norton, said he looks forward to seeing Mansfield and the old
reformatory again.

“The great, unbilled star of that movie is the prison itself,” Gunton said by phone. “I was so
impressed by that place when I was there.

“It is haunting, frightening. It looks like it contains history. If you remember from the movie
that helicopter tracking shot that approaches the prison, when you see the little white bus
bringing Andy there for the first time, it’s like you’re approaching some medieval dungeon — a
place of hopelessness.”

Gunton said he isn’t surprised by how much the movie has touched viewers through the years.

Shawshank “was one of the most beautifully written and powerful scripts I’d ever read,” he
said.

“And I know many actors who, reading the script while preparing to audition, had the same
reaction to it.”

The film’s themes of hope overcoming despair and of the transforming power of friendship have
universal appeal, he said.

“When it was released, I think a lot of us were shocked that it wasn’t an instantaneous hit. I
think we were disappointed that it didn’t do more business. But that was also the year of
Pulp Fiction and
Forrest Gump” — which, like
Shawshank, were nominated for the 1994 best-picture Oscar. (Forrest Gump won.)

Gunton said he owes a great deal to
Shawshank and its many fans.

“This was my first major role in film,” said the actor, who has since appeared in a host of
productions, including the Oscar-winning
Argo and the TV series
24.“The movie has brought me a great deal of other work and recognition.”

He said he is also impressed by the efforts of the organizers of the reunion and the Shawshank
Trail, a self-guided tour of 12 areas that appeared in the movie.

“I honor their work in keeping this movie — and what is almost ‘the cult’ of it — alive.”

Steve Stephens is the Dispatch travel writer. He can be reached at 614-461-5201 or by
email.